Biological Molecules

Carbohydrates
Definition
Carbohydrates are organic compounds made up of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. These
compounds have a general formula of CnH2mOm. This means that the hydrogen and oxygen
atoms are present in a ratio 2:1. Carbohydrates are usually good sources of raw materials for
other organic molecules and energy. One gram of carbohydrates provides four food calories or
16 kJ of energy. In the human diet, carbohydrates mainly come from plants although they are
found in all organism.

Function
Providing energy and regulation of blood glucose
Sparing the use of proteins for energy
Breakdown of fatty acids and preventing ketosis
Biological recognition processes
Flavour and Sweeteners
Dietary fibber.

Types
1. Monosaccharides (monos means single and sacchar means sugar)
Ribose—a 5C aldose that forms part of the backbone of nucleic acids
Glucose—a 6C aldose that is the product of photosynthesis and the substrate for respiration
that provides energy for cellular activities
Fructose—a 6C ketose that is found in many plants and is often bonded to glucose
2. Disaccharides (di means two)
Maltose (glucose + glucose)—malt sugar often found in sprouting grains, malt-based energy
drinks, or beer.
Lactose (glucose + galactose)—milk sugar that is a source of energy for infants; an enzyme
called lactase is required to digest this. Many adult Filipinos have low levels of this enzyme
leading to a condition called lactose intolerance.
Sucrose (glucose + fructose)—found in table sugar processed from sugar cane, sweet fruits, and
storage roots like carrots.
3. Polysaccharides (poly means many)
Storage polysaccharides are large molecules retained in the cell and are insoluble in water
(formed from α 1,4 linkage monomers; with a helical structure)
-Starch—amylase is unbranched starch forming a helical structure while amylopectin is
branched starch, these are present in plant parts like potato tubers, corn, and rice and serve as
major sources of energy.
-Glycogen—found in animals and fungi; often found in liver cells and muscle cells
Structural polysaccharides (formed from β 1,4 linkage of monomers; strands associate to form a
sheet-like structure)
-Cellulose—tough sheet-like structures that make up plant and algal cell walls that may be
processed to form paper and paper-based products; humans lack the enzymes to digest β 1,4
linkages so is passed out of the digestive tract and aids in regular bowel movement
-Chitin—used for structural support in the walls of fungi and in external skeletons of arthropods
-Peptidoglycan—used for structural support in bacterial cell walls.

Lipids
Definition
Lipids are a class of large biomolecules that are not formed through polymerization. They have
diverse structures but are all non-polar and mix poorly, if at all, with water. They may have
some oxygen atoms in their structure but the bulk is composed of abundant nonpolar C-H
bonds. They function for energy storage, providing nine food calories or 37 kJ of energy per
gram. They also function for the cushioning of vital organs and for insulation. Furthermore, they
play important roles in plasma membrane structure and serve as precursors for important
reproductive hormones.

Function
The functions of lipids include storing energy, signalling, and acting as structural components
of cell membranes. Lipids have applications in the cosmetic and food industries as well as
in nanotechnology.

Types
1. Fats (triacylglycerols or triglycerides)
Saturated fat—animal products such as butter and lard have a lot of saturated fatty acids. The
linear structure allows for the close packing of the fat molecules forming solids at room
temperature, diets high in these fats may increase the risk of developing atherosclerosis, a
condition in which fatty deposits develop within the walls of blood vessels, increasing the
incidence of cardiovascular disease.
Unsaturated fat—plant and fish oils have unsaturated fatty acids. The bent structure prevents
close packing and results in oils or fats that are liquid at room temperature. Homemade peanut
butter has oils that separate out of solution for this reason. Industries have developed a process
called hydrogenation that converts unsaturated fats into saturated fats to improve texture
spreadability.
Trans fat—may be produced artificially through the process of hydrogenation described above.
The cis double bonds are converted to trans double bonds (H atoms on opposite sides) resulting
in fats that behave like saturated fats. Studies show that trans fat are even more dangerous to
health than saturated fats to the extent that they have been banned from restaurants in some
countries.
2. Phospholipids
Phospholipids self-assemble into bilayers when surrounded by water and form the
characteristic structure of plasma membranes.
3. Steroids and sterols
Cholesterol found in cell membranes regulates the rigidity of the cell membrane and are the
base material for the production of sex hormones like estradiol and progesterone.
4. Waxes
Ecyl hexadecanoate (lauryl palmitate) and octadecyl octadecanoate (stearyl stearate) are the
example of it.

Protein
Definition
Protein is any of a class of nitrogenous organic compounds that consist of large molecules
composed of one or more long chains of amino acids and are an essential part of all living
organisms, especially as structural components of body tissues such as muscle, hair, collagen,
etc., and as enzymes and antibodies.

Function
Protein do most of the work in cells and are required for the structure, function, and
regulation of the body's tissues and organs. Proteins are made up of hundreds or thousands of
smaller units called amino acids, which are attached to one another in long chains.

Amino Acids
Amino acids are organic compounds containing amine and carboxyl functional groups, along
with a side chain specific to each amino acid. The key elements of an amino acid are carbon,
hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, although other elements are found in the side chains of
certain amino acids.
Hydrophobic amino acids have nonpolar side chains, such as alkyl groups or aromatic groups.
Hydrophilic-neutral—amino acids contain polar side chains, such as hydroxyl, -OH, O, H, and
sulfhydryl, -SH, S, H, groups.

Hydrophilic-acidic—amino acids have side chains that contain carboxylic acid, -COOH, C, O, O,
H, groups.

Hydrophilic-basic—amino acids have side chains that contain amine, -NH2negative, N, H, start
subscript, 2, end subscript, groups.

Nucleic Acid
Definition
Nucleic acids are polynuleotides, or polymers composed of many repeating units of nucleotides.
Each nucleotide consists of a nucleoside coupled together with a phosphate group and each
nucleoside is made up of a nitrogen base unit derived from either purine or pyrimidine ring
bonded
to
either a
ribose
or

deoxyribose sugar unit

Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA)

•Found in the cell nucleus (eukaryotic)
Ribonucleic Acid (RNA)
•Mainly found in cytoplasm

DNA vs. RNA

Since all the sugar units of this nucleic acid are β-D-2-deoxyribose units, this is a DNA molecule
while RNA is composed of only β-D-ribose sugar units.
DNA is built on a backbone of phosphate and β-D-2-
deoxyribose units with attached Adenine (A),
Thymine (T), Guanine (G), and Cytosine(C) nitrogen
base units on the 1’ carbon, or A, T, G, and C
nucleotide Units and DNA molecules can range from
1-100 million nucleotide units.
RNA backbone of phosphate and β-D-ribose units
with attached Adenine (A), Uracil (U), Guanine (G),
and Cytosine(C) nitrogen base units on the 1’ carbon,
or A, U, G, and C nucleotide units(Notice, Uracil
replaces Thymine in RNA) and RNA molecules range
from as few as 73-thousand nucleotide units. RNA
and DNA have very different secondary structures